Sunday, October 30, 2011

a few months back, on a short morning run with some friends, we were chatting about races. the longest races we'd run. how many. and why we liked races. michelle mentioned that she could never run a half. i disagreed. andrea had never run a half, but was interested.

and so we started looking.

we really wanted something on a saturday and it only left us with two options in the area. one in vermont that was a killer of a course. no thanks. the other was in cape cod. so we signed up.

we were put on a wait list in positions 44, 45 and 70-something. so we figured we'd never get in and didn't think much of training. a week or two passed and we got a follow-up email saying we had moved up to positions 12, 13 and probably 30-something. there was something wrong with andrea's payment, so they told her if she fixed it, they'd allow her to run. and a day or two later, michelle got word that we were in. with just about a month to spare.

so we started to train. we ran up to 8 miles, which was pretty much all we could do with our procrastination. but we felt okay about it. michelle was running to finish, not for a specific time, and i was running with her.

the day before the race, we left our costumed munchkins at tuck with their dads to trick-or-treat and we headed south for a 3.5 hour drive. we got caught in friday night traffic in boston and stopped once to get some potatoes and chili before we reached our motel and settled down for the night.

it's ironic that the one night we were without kids and had the opportunity to sleep in, we actually had to get up earlier than normal. i seriously considered skipping my morning "run" in exchange for some good, restful sleep. but we eventually opted to race.

we were able to stay cozy inside of a school right up until the race started and then we were off. with our matching ear warmers, of course.

{michelle, andrea and me. i swear i'm not wearing blush.}

it really was a great day to race. we were worried it would be too cold, but we were dressed warmly enough that there was just enough chill to keep us moving. andrea was on fire that day, and i could tell, so after a few miles, we sent her on her way. she finished 40 minutes before us! go andrea!!

i gladly stayed with michelle. and was very impressed that, even with only 8 miles of training under her belt, didn't stop to walk until mile 11. my favorite comment was around mile 10 when a few people who had been behind us for miles slowly passed us. michelle turned to me and said, "how are these people getting bursts of energy at this point in the race!? they're starting to go so fast!" sadly, i had to inform her that they weren't going faster, we had slowed down. a lot.

speedy or not, we finished. and it felt great!

almost as great as the new england clam chowder, warm roll and green salad provided to runners at the finish line. we hopped straight in the car and headed home to join our kids in more halloween festivities. it was a quick trip, but a success. i'll definitely be going back next year!